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It’s the middle of a heat wave so Craig Kirkham doesn’t mind getting splashed as his next-door neighbour sprays the sidewalk clean in front of their pristine Victorian semis on Draper Street

On a front porch lined with winding purple clematis, Kate, 5, and 2-year-old Drew are waiting to jump on their dad, who lingers to chat with the woman wielding the hose and other passersby.

Dr. Kamran Khan, his wife Amy and their children Lotus, Darwin and Osler in front of their Draper Street home in downtown Toronto. (J.P. MOCZULSKI / The Toronto Star)

A look at Draper Street as part of the proposed development for the corner of Spadina and Front Sts. (Claude Cormier & Associes Inc)

Up the street on her doorstep, Mary Kohut thanks a neighbour who’s off to mail a letter for her. At 90, Kohut doesn’t get around as easily as she used to, but folks on the block are always happy to help out.

“I’m the longest one here,” says Kohut, whose family moved to the street when she was 9. “I still have the best neighbours in the world.”

Every now and then on this weekday afternoon, a door opens and someone emerges with a dog or a grocery bag and a greeting.

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Draper street residents attire their dog in goggles for a ride in a scooter. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

Similar scenes unfold every day in neighbourhoods throughout Toronto. But the ambience on Draper Street is like no other.

Draper, with its second-empire Victorian cottages built between 1881 and 1889, has withstood more than a century of industry on all sides and somehow survived with its charm and heart intact.

Residents in the shiny new condo buildings nearby may not know their neighbours. But on Draper, they celebrate the summer solstice together, meet for drinks in the shared garden they created on a vacant lot and babysit each other’s pets. They meet for movie nights and card games, and trade tips on how to keep their front gardens blooming.

But the historic street is facing a new round of challenges. Within the next two years, a consortium led by developer Diamondcorp is expected to break ground on The Well, a three-hectare (7.7-acre) project adjacent to homes on the east side of Draper extending east to Spadina Ave. and running from Front Street north to Wellington Street

A look at Draper Street as part of the proposed development for the corner of Spadina and Front Sts. (Claude Cormier & Associes Inc)

By the time it’s finished, there are expected to be seven mixed-use buildings with residential, retail and office space organized around an east-west pedestrian “spine” and open air plaza.

The project, built on the longtime site of the Globe and Mail, got the nod a year ago when city council approved an official plan amendment. A zoning amendment is expected to proceed in the fall.

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The Well property includes a building at the corner of Draper and Front Streets and the fenced-in vacant lot the neighbours turned into their shared garden years after its original building burned down.

Although residents are bracing for more noise, traffic and density, one piece of promising news came when developers proposed keeping the vacant lot as a parkette, opening it to the public and connecting it to pedestrian walkways.

So far, consultations between project managers and the Draper Street Residents’ Association have been “very positive,” says association president Dr. Kamran Khan, an infectious diseases physician who has lived on the street for 14 years.

The proposed parkette leading from the upcoming Well development onto Draper Street. (Claude Cormier & Associes Inc)

The proposal “has definitely caused quite a bit of concern as it may not be respectful to the scale of the street,” says Khan. Not to mention the traffic flow.

The first public meeting on the application is expected this fall.

Development and increasing density are inevitable and people aren’t averse to change, says Khan. “The key thing is the precedents that are set are really important.”

That’s why residents must have a say in what happens in their neighbourhood. In the 1990s, they fought successfully to have the street declared a heritage site, which strictly inhibits changes that can be made to buildings and landscape. Today they are determined to preserve its integrity.

But you don’t have to live on Draper Street to want it protected. It’s the kind of street that people who work or live in the area go out of their way to stroll down.

“This is where Toronto began,” says Joe Cressy, city councillor for ward 20 and who declares Draper his favourite street in the city. It hung onto its “family quality” while industry surrounded it, he adds. Printing and publishing, then garment factories and lofts, railway lands to the south and more recently architects, designers and other arts and cultural businesses.

Strolling down Draper Street is like walking through history and stumbling into a quiet zone. Suddenly the traffic jam on Front Street fades into the background as the red brick semis with yellow brick window panels come into view, with their rounded dormers, bay windows, wrought iron finishings and flowers spilling from window boxes.

But it’s the people inside who are the heart of Draper.

“It’s a small but complete community,” says Khan, who is happy to report “a bit of a baby boom” on the block.

He and wife Amy are raising their three children here and are happy to see more kids arriving. Khan, a scientist researching the Zika virus, loves that he can walk or cycle to the downtown hospitals where he works.

Draper includes renters, young adult friends who grew up together, families new to the ’hood and seniors there since before the nearby Rogers Centre or even the CN Tower.

And there are residents such as Cate Freeman, who made it her home in 1980 not long after she came to Canada from Australia.

She was a key player in getting the street heritage designation, helped plant the shared garden and loves street gatherings. Her roots are Australian but, “this is my community, this is the place I love.”

Meet the neighbours of Draper Street

Love at first sight

Dr. Kamran Khan, his wife Amy and their children Lotus, Darwin and Osler enjoy being so close to downtown. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

Dr. Kamran Khan was smitten the minute he turned onto Draper Street and spotted the For Rent sign. The infectious diseases physician, back in his hometown after living in New York, was looking for a downtown home close to work. Draper “seemed completely out of place but charming.” Soon after moving in, a neighbour’s Victorian home went on the market and he snapped it up. Fourteen years later, it thrums with activity. He and his wife Amy have a daughter, 11, and twin sons, 7. Khan, a researcher and professor, walks or cycles everywhere. The kids have friends on the street. Despite its heritage designation and location, it’s like a lot of evolving neighbourhoods where old-timers mix with young families, he says. “It’s a microcosm of any community you’d find in Toronto.” With a little extra charm.

A home for life

When Mary Kohut turned 90 last year, the whole street came to celebrate. It was a fitting tribute for Draper’s oldest and longest resident, who moved in at the age of 9. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

When Mary Kohut turned 90 last year, the whole street came to celebrate. It was a fitting tribute for Draper’s oldest and longest resident, who moved in at the age of 9 when there was no traffic and the milkman and breadman came to the door. “My neighbours made me a beautiful party — cake and everything,” says Kohut, who still has all the birthday cards. Her family came to Toronto during the Depression from their Manitoba farm and lived in several Draper houses, including her current one, where she and her late husband Bill raised their son and her grandchildren regularly visit. One of seven children, Kohut remembers swarms of boys playing road hockey, girls skipping, everyone walking to school. No cars. Ukrainian treats from stores on Queen St. The biggest change? “All those buildings.” But some things are the same. “I love my neighbours. Anything I need, they come and help me.”

The new wave

Craig and Vanessa Kirkham
bought an 1881 cottage on Draper Street six years ago. Their children Kate, 5, and Drew, 2, know everyone
on the street. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

Before he lived here, Craig Kirkham used to walk down Draper every day from his nearby office. He loved the history and esthetic of the second empire Victorian homes, with their red brick, rounded dormers and flowers spilling from window boxes. Six years ago, he and wife Vanessa bought an 1881 cottage and discovered another feature: the neighbours. There are movie nights, summer solstice gatherings and always people to talk to out front. Kate, 5, and Drew, 2, know everyone, from Rose the gardener extraordinaire next door to grandmotherly Mary up the street, and the big kids on the block. “It really is like a small town,” says Kirkham, creative director at a media firm. Except it’s hard to forget where you are when the CN Tower looms out the back window.

Deep roots

Cate Freeman, a retired high school art teacher, has been on the street for 36 years, shortly after emigrating from Australia. She was looking for a downtown fixer-upper. “And I’m still at it,” she laughs. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

Cate Freeman strolls through a vacant lot that she and fellow gardeners converted into Draper Street’s parkette. “This is my dinner most nights,” she says pointing to kale, arugula, cucumbers and a sprawling herb bed. The raspberries are ripening. The strawberries were good this season, too. Freeman, a retired high school art teacher, has been on the street for 36 years, shortly after emigrating from Australia. She was looking for a downtown fixer-upper. “And I’m still at it,” she laughs. She’s spent years ripping out baseboards, painting and refinishing, and applied for two heritage grants to restore the slate roof and upgrade windows. She was among those who worked on getting Draper’s heritage designation in 1998, and is at the centre of many street gatherings. And oh, that white pine over there? That’s the seedling Freeman planted herself, a gift she received the day she got her Canadian citizenship.

Keeper of history

Bill Brokenshire, 71, has lived on Draper Street for 33 years. The retired school teacher is a former president of the Draper Street Residents’ Association and manager of the archives. (J.P. MOCZULSKI/Toronto Star)

“A house full of curiosities,” is how one neighbour describes Bill Brokenshire’s home. A peek in the front bay window at an elaborate ship model provides evidence. And there’s the fact it was a candidate in the first season of HGTV’s competition Four Houses Canada. Brokenshire, 71, got it 33 years ago for a song ($90,000) after his brother bought one across the street. “I’d never be able to afford it today,” says the retired school teacher who has a passion for local history. “It’s a different space in time when you walk up the street,” he says. He’s done his share of fighting to preserve it, as former president of the Draper Street Residents’ Association and manager of the archives. He also owns Dizzy, the portly ginger and white cat who acts as the street ambassador, as anyone who has ever walked by can attest. Or, as Brokenshire puts it, “he owns me.”

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